


Little Talks

by gremlinny



Category: The Grinning Man - Philips & Teitler/Grose & Morris & Philips & Teitler/Grose
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, dialogue only, minimal narration, pieces of conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26499421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gremlinny/pseuds/gremlinny
Summary: “Dea, I think I’m going to run away.”“Really?”“Yes. I’ll run away and I’ll live in a cave and I’ll have no friends.”(Conversations between Grinpayne and Dea. Inspired by text posts from lordxgrinnyxboy on tumblr)
Relationships: Dea/Grinpayne | Gwynplaine Trelaw
Comments: 10
Kudos: 18





	Little Talks

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is primarily dialogue between Grin & Dea, with very little narration. Tumblr user lordxgrinnyxboy has a lot of posts that are just Grinpayne and Dea talking to eachother, and those were the inspiration for this!

Grinpayne lays on his back in the grass, closing his eyes.

“I never understood why people say they’d start everything over from the beginning if they could change a few things. You’d still have to go through all of it again.”

“Where else is there to start over from,” Dea asks. She picks the little wildflowers that are sprouting up and piles them onto Grinpayne’s chest. 

“The middle. There’s less to get through.”

“Well, what would you change if you started halfway again?”

“Nothing.”

__________________

“What does Crimson Lethe taste like?”

“Bad, why?”

“Just curious. Medicine always tastes bad, I wondered if it’s any different.“

“I hope you never have to find out. It’s terribly bitter, there’s nothing in it to cover that up. There’s a procoagulant mixed in it that mostly stops the bleeding for a while, and it doesn’t help the taste, especially not if there’s already blood in my mouth.” He pauses. “There usually is. There always is.”

Dea takes his hand in hers, squeezing gently.

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“That you have to take it. That you hurt so much all the time.”

“It’s not all the time.”

“Yes it is.”

“…Yes,” he sighs, “it is. You’re right.”

“I wish I wasn’t.”

“So do I.”

__________________

“Have I ever told you,” Grinpayne mumbles, half asleep, “how much I love you?”

Dea yawns.

“Many times.”

“Can I tell you again?”

__________________

“If you were an animal, Grinpayne, what kind would you be?”

“A w—“

“You can’t say wolf just because you thought of Mojo first.”

“I wasn’t going to! I wasn’t. The question is, is it what I  _ would _ be, or what I’d  _ like _ to be?”

“Ah… pick one for both.”

“Well. I think I’d be… hm… I’d like to be something strong, I guess.”

“Strong in what way? Offense or defense?”

“Both. So I can protect what needs protecting and defend what needs defending.”

“How noble of you. How loyal, in fact. You might be describing a dog.”

“I might be. What about you?”

“It’s hard to choose.”

“I think you’d be an owl. A barn owl, the kinds that have a heart shaped face and big talons.”

“What about if we didn’t have a choice in what we were?”

“Why, we’d be bugs, of course. There’s more bugs in the world than people, did you know?”

“I think you’d still be a dog.”

_ “Woof.” _

__________________

“Ursus is starting to get grey hairs.”

“I thought he was almost bald?”

“Oh, he is. But there’s grey hairs in what’s left.”

“Tragic.”

_________________

“Dea, I think I’m going to run away.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ll run away and I’ll live in a cave and I’ll have no friends.”

“That sounds lonely.”

“Of course. People wouldn’t stare at me if I lived in a cave in the woods with no friends. They wouldn’t whisper about me or laugh at my face or cry when they see me. I would be alone. And I’ll only come out at night to make sounds loud enough to scare away anyone who gets too close, and to start rumors that the woods are haunted.”

“You’d leave me behind, by myself?”

“Well, you could visit.”

“What about father and Mojo?”

“…Them too.”

“So you won’t really be all alone, then. You’ll have us.”

“…”

“You’ll  _ always _ have us.”

_________________

“Last night I had a dream that we had wings, Grinpayne.”

“Wings like birds?”

“Wings like angels. It was  _ wonderful _ .”

“Did we fly?”

“Of course. You were nervous, but I loved it.”

“I wouldn’t be nervous about flying.”

“Oh? Show me, then, since you’re so eager. Have you got wings you’ve been hiding from me all these years?”

“Yes, always tucked against my shoulders. You haven’t noticed?”

“I’ve never suspected a thing, my angel.”

_________________

“I hope we remember eachother when we’re older.”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“I’ve already forgotten so much of my past. It might happen again. Old people are terribly forgetful as it is, so I’d probably be worse. By the end of this year I‘ll have forgotten who I am.”

“Don’t sound so sure. If it ever came to that, I would remind you as much as you needed.”

“It would be terribly inconvenient.”

“I wouldn’t mind.”

“It would get annoying, surely.”

“You could never annoy me. I would tell you every morning when you wake up and every night before you sleep.”

“I appreciate it. …What was your name, again, miss?”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Really, though, Dea, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I ever forgot you. I’d rather forget everything about myself a hundred times over if it meant I still remember you.”

“Grinpayne…”

“It’s true. If I don’t have you, then… I have no one.”

“Don’t say that.”

“What should I say instead?”

“Say  _ I love you. _ ”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

______________________

_ “Shit!” _

“Grinpayne? What happened?”

“It’s nothing, go back to bed, it’s fine.”

“It didn’t sound like nothing. It sounded like an awfully loud crash.”

“Okay, it wasn’t nothing, but I’m— No, don’t get up, go back to  _ bed _ , Dea—“

_ “Oh!” _

“Fuck!”

“What did I just— Did I just trip over  _ you? Are you on the floor?” _

“Yes, I’m on the floor.”

“You can’t get up, can you.”

“No I cannot.”

“Grinpayne…”

“Dea. What if I  _ like _ being on the floor.”

_ “You don’t like being on the—“ _

“I don’t like being on the floor, you’re right. But I couldn’t quite reach my cane and I thought I would probably be okay to walk without it right now since I’m not hurting so much, but that wasn’t the case because as soon as I stood up I just— I fell, obviously, and. Now we’re here.”

“Now we’re here. Tell me, if I didn’t have  _ my _ cane, what would I do if I wanted to go somewhere?”

“…You’d ask for help or you’d get Mojo to guide you.”

“And what should  _ you _ do if you don’t have yours?”

“…”

_ “Grinpayne.” _

“I should ask for help or get Mojo for support.”

“Exactly. Come on, up we go, there’s sleep to get back to.”

______________________

“Grinpayne, have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Many times.”

“Can I tell you again?”

**Author's Note:**

> I’m castledock on tumblr


End file.
